Amritsar/IBNS: 'Khalistan Zindabad' slogans were on Thursday raised at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on the 41st anniversary of Operation Blue Star, media reports said.

The slogans were raised as SAD (Mann faction) leader Simranjit Singh reached the Golden Temple.

It was also the death anniversary of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who was killed during the operation, which was carried out by the Indian Army in 1984 on orders of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Operation Blue Star, which was carried out from June 1-10, 1984, was a military operation to remove Sikh militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his armed followers from the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, Punjab. 

The operation was carried out to contain the Sikh militancy under Bhindranwale's leadership.

It was then reported that Bhindranwale had gathered a large number of arms inside the Golden Temple.

The Sikh militants demanded a separate Sikh state called Khalistan and gathered arms at Akal Takht in Golden Temple.

Indira Gandhi, who was heavily criticised for the operation, was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards at her residence in New Delhi on October 31, 1984.